//------------------------------// // The Truth // Story: FireWatch // by Darkness Moon //------------------------------// The next night, I was writing more notes to fill in more of the wall of notes I had made, trying to find out even who is spying on us, and why. Until I heard the receiver's beep again. “This receiver just picked something up” informed Delilah. “Like a signal? It’s going “Beep Beep?” “Yeah. What could it be?” “I don’t kmow. You gotta find out.” “Alright, I’m on my way now.“ took my backpack and axe and left the tower. “You know what I just picked up?” “Uhh…no” “A fifth of Major Bueno tequila Major from the creek” “Are you DRUNK?!” I stopped when I saw hers tower in the distance. “NO, I am GETTING drunk!” “Hey, D. I don’t wanna ‘harsh your vibe’ but maybe just maybe that’s a bad idea?” “Sunshine, Sunshine, Sunshine…” “What?” “You’re harshin’ my vibe. My thinking is I could stay up all night worried I’m gonna lose my job because of the sit fire. Or, I could not worry and let the chips fall where they may. It’s not like there’s any proof we were down there.” “My thinkimg is I’m going to follow this wave receiver” I was already halfway there, according to the sound. “Oooh, I like it when you think.” sounded sexual and drunk. “Aye yai yai. I’ll just leave you alone with whatever these thougts are” turned off the radio and followed the receiver. The sounds did not make the situation less tense, the sound was louder too, until it sounded non-stop on a rock wall in the middle of the trees. It was a strange backpack, with a keychain pendant with a key. While I was drinking, I activated a kind of alarm. It was so loud that I destroyed it with the ax. Upon examining it, it had nothing interesting, but that key was the one to that cave. “D—I found some sort of supply bag. Light camping gear, some clothes. Basics. But it was alarmed. I think that’s what was making the receiver go haywire” “You’re okay? It’s not a trap or anything?” “I’m fine. But… there’s also a st of keys here. I don’t know why they’d be hidden out here. They say ‘Shoshone National Forest cave 452’ Is that the one in the canyon?” “Yes, it is. Who the hell took them?” “And what the hell is in that cave?” “Okay, okay, Let’s just think” “Says the woman with half a bottle of tequila in the her belly” walking out of the zone. “Maybe they’ re panicking and were preparing to beat it. The fire has them spooked and we have new walkie talkies so we have the upper hand” “It’s hard to feel like you have the upper hand when you’re standing in the dark in the middle of the woods” light up the map to see the way back. “Oh, well you’re back in your tower. Maybe you need a drink too” I stopped. “I’m not in my tower” “I am looking at a man standing in your lookout. And it’s not you?” “It is not me.” “Oh my God. Go.” “I’m going.” There is someone in my tower at the moment, doing god knows what. I was so nervous, not about arriving, because I met that person on the way. I hid in some bushes and called Delilah. “Hey, I got turned around… is that person still there?” “No, he’s gone” "Well. I'm close, but I didn't want to meet him" "Yeah... be careful" “I’II call you when I ‘m back” I climbed the tower with caution, if it were not for the ax I would not dare to climb. Everything seemed normal, nothing messy. “I don’t see anyone up here.” “He was just there” I was about to go inside when I found a tape with headphones taped to the door. Takeoffs and played the audio. “I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down!” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” “We’ll dump an ocean of wáter on it and these assholes will spend the rest of the summer picking up the pieces. We get to finish out our contracts. Hell, we’ll even call in the fire.” “Yeah, okay” It was our voices, in the moment before the fire. Someone must have recorded that, it was there and I couldn't see anything. “It’s a tape of us talking down at the sit. It sounds like it was recored from somewhere nearby.” “Oh jesus…” “Yeah. And… it sounds like we were the ones who burned it down--- and that it was your idea” “No.” “We are screwed” “NO.” “D, just don’t freak out, okay? Don’t freak out” “Oh my God. ¡¿WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING SUNSET?!?” I could not sleep well that day. I woke up in the middle of the night continuing to listen to the tape, until the morning, just doing that, leaning my hand on the window seeing everything full of smoke from the fire, listening to the tape over and over again. “I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down!” “We should just burn the place down!” “Yeah. Fuck’em.” “We should just burn the place down!”.” “I think I’m going to throw up.” “Yeah. Fuck-” I stopped recording when I heard Delilah. “What’s wrong?” “Someone claiming to be ‘Sunset, in Two Forks’ called a lookout in another sector early this morning and said that I knew what caused the Wapiti Meadow fire.” “Uh…” “So, I just got off the born with that lookout who’s wondering what I know. Or that I’m an arsonist. Or that I’m fucking losing it. Furthermore, I bet don’t have the only tape of us from last night. So someone has evidence to back it up. We need to find out what someone’s been keeping in that cave” “I’m going down down there now.” I took my backpack and the axe. “We don’t have a lot of time left out here. If we don’t find some fucking answers when they lift us out it’s going to be handcuffs” “We just have to stick together. Keep our story straight. From the first day with those girls, to the person breaking in our conversation, everything. We gotta be honest and consistent” I said calmly as left the tower. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right” “I know.” So I took the map and went straight to the cave, it was easier with the wave receiver with a built-in compass. I never liked the cave since I arrived, but something told me that it was not going well. “Hey. You… you didn’t actually make that call, right? To the other lookout?” was Delilah. “It just stuck in my craw. I let myself imagine how fucked I would be if you’d been lying to me. But now that I’ve asked I kinda just wish I hadn’t” “Of course I didn’t. No way. They’re just trying to p us against each other.” “Yeah… you’re right” “That’s not going to happen, though.” “Thanks Sunset.” Get to the cave. I did not think to delay so I used the key to finally open the gate. But, I had barely advanced a bit, when I heard it close behind me. “What the hell?!” I jump fright. I came back and now I am stuck. I had no choice but to keep going and I didn't have the climbing gear so it would be very dangerous, there were a lot of steep descents. I had to find the way out of the cave. And worse still, I couldn't use the radio since I was underground. I made my way through the rocks using the ax, being careful not to cause a cave-in. I went through tight and narrow passages, at least it was not that dark. “It’s freezing in here” said to myself. Continuing further and further, until I reached another steep descent. It was a surprise of my life to see something below, it was a red shoe. “¡¿IS ANYBODY DOWN THERE?!” But nobody answered me, so I decided to continue. It took me a while, and I found my way out. “¿Hey, hey you there?” I call Delilah. “Yeah, what is it? What did you find?” “Nothing yet. Because someone tried to trap me in there” “You saw someone?!” “No, someone slammed the gate behind me and then ran away, I found another way out. But if I hadn’t…Fuck!” walked away from the exit. “So… so you didn’t find anything?” “No. There’s a spot where someone had sunk an anchor but the hardware’s gone now” until I get to some kind of hiding place. “I don’t have any climbing equipment” she sighed in frustration. “Delilah, I just found an outcropping that someone was using as a Little fort. I think it was Brian Goodwin.” “Really?” “Yeah. He built himself a real castle.” “He was in the middle of really sprucing up the join when they left” when seeing a picture with the boy's fort symbol. “A bunch of rocks stacked up, he made a Wall and a perimeter.” “Ha, Wow, Yeah, that’s perfect.” “But, you know, maybe he did it because he was afraid of them” “Whenever I think Brian possibily going through this crap I get sick to my stomach.” “Yeah. Sorry. Hey, remember that pack I found?” asks after picking up a picture. “Back on your second day? Yeah.” “I found a plan Brian drew about he was gonna get it back” “Oh, I’m sure it was quite elaborte” “It’s some ‘Wile E. Coyote’ stuff, I’ll tell you that much. It’s a little weird that he’ just lave so some of this stuff out here” “Well, maybe they were in a burry when they left, Like I said he wasn’t supposed to be out here” “Umm… Brian was doing a scince fair Project aout bouncing radio waves off of a meteor shower” As I read your homework, I was impressed. “Poor kid left his homework?” “Yeah. He must’ve been pretty smart, huh?” “Sharper tan a lot of the grown-up knuckleheads I’m used to, yeah” “Yeah, but not smarter tan yours truly, right?” smile. “Wait, are you seriously feeling threatened by the intelligence of a twelve year old you’ve never met?” “I’m just saying, I’m pretty, you know, with it. A pretty bright bulb” “Yeah Sunset, you’re a regular Rhodes Scholar” “Nice” I kept searching, finding some things that I kept for myself. “There is… something about Brian that I have never told you or anyone else” Delilah sounded…. guilty? “About the fact that you were here, despite the rules.I uh, they almost got busted, Brian liked to go out on the railing of the tower and wave at the planes that dump wáter on fires and I got a call because someone thought a kid was up in Two Fork. I lied and just said it was Ned. If I ratted him out they would’ve been forced to leave and, I dunno, I guess I felt like I was saving him from whatever shitty life Ned was going to bring him back to. Not that ended up mattering.” It seems that this Ned was not a good father, I guess I don't know much. I grew up without my father since I became a student of Princess Celestia. I know she shouldn't, but she became my closest maternal figure I could ask for. I guess she was fragile back then. After I finished searching, I found a lot of pitons or rope anchors. I assumed that it would help me to go deeper into the cave. I found a crack where I could put a piton and go down with the help of a rope. “What do you think is in there?” Delilah ask. “There’s got to be something. Why else try to kill me?? I don’t know really… we gott find out. What do you think?” “Whatever’s it is, they don’t want you telling anyone about” “They closed the door when they could’ve just...” “Bashed your head in with a rock or chopped you with a…” “Are you serious with this shit right now?” it bothered me at the last part you said. “Ugh…hatchet. God, are yo usure you want to go back in there?” “Yeah. Especially now that I’m thinking about all the fun ways to be killed” sarcasm activated. “Sorry. At least locked you in doesn’t know you’’ve gotten out. Hopefully you find whatever they’re hiding in there and it’ll be worth the risk.” I followed the map to go to the cave. “Oh Also…Those girls turned up. Looks like didn’t kill them. Nobody did. They took some farmer’s tractor for joy ride down in Riverton and in landed jail “Dodged a bullet, there.” sighs in relief. “Yeah, we’ve got enough unanswered shit to answered shit to answer for. I’d say.” At least this wasn't related to them, just some bitches looking for trouble, I wonder if they knew anything. But I didn't think about it much since I got to the cave. I used the key again to enter; just the place where they closed the door before, I could go down, and with Brian's pythons I could advance, or descend in this case, without problem. Keep going down without stopping until you reach the place. There was. In the distance a figure, a body next to some piles of rocks. “Ah shit…” I get closer to see better. “Are you…? Oh God” he was dead. I saw a rope with a piton. “You fell.” “You’re Brian Goodwin. Oh no. Good. You poor fucking kid” I knelt down, and next to it I placed a toy dinosaur that I had found in the castle. I got up and went over very careful not to step on the body. Look up at the rugged gallery. “Your… stuff gave out. You poor kid” It was too much of a stretch, it fell from the top, I noticed a shoe was missing, and it was the same one I saw before… from the top of the cave. I have to get out of the cave and report on the body, for evidence I took a photo. Then I felt bad for doing it, but I need evidence. As I climbed to the exit, my mind was lost, poor boy. I ended up the same as where I started, I finally left “Hey, D.” “There you are. I’ve been worrying my ass off.” “Hey, you might want to take a seat “I’ve been sitting this entire time. I’m almost always sitting. What’s wrong?” “The only thing in the cave was a body.” “A body? Gah, what a mess.” “Delilah. It’s Brian Goodwin.” “Sigh…You’ve got to be fucking kidding m….Who does that…? What…? I don’t… How?” “Climbing, I think. Or maybe to look like a climbing accident.” “Mmhmm…” “I don’t know, maybe it was Ned.” I didn't think of that clearly, but I didn't have any more suspects, or it could have been a horrible accident. But wouldn't it make sense if not because his body is still there? “If not him directly, he put it stupid-fucking not how in his head to get him kill. Son of a bitch." “Yeah I’m sorry, Delilah. I’m so sorry.” “He’d b alive had I told someone he was out here. I don’t know where he’d be but I can assure you it would not be rotting at the bottom of that cave.” “I…” “There’s- there’s-- there’s nothing to say. Hike back. I think we’re leavng tomorrow, anyway” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The silence was present, when the girls finished they stayed in their places without saying anything, the only one to move was Onix, who moved away from Sonata to go with Sunset, she caressed him. "Shit..." Aria said. "Aria!" Sonata said. "It’s okay," Sunset said. "I was going to say it too" "I'm sorry you had to go through that Sunny" Adagio caressed her arm gently. "He was a little boy, he had so much ahead of him" "Do you think it was Ned, Sunset?" Aria asked. "Back then, yes, and I'm still thinking about it." "Still? Still not finished? " Sonata asked. "No. This is the final outcome, I will tell you what happened when I left, and what happened afterwards. And don't worry, it won't be any longer " "Good Sunny, finish telling us," smiled Adagio. "Very well: " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was putting my things away, only my computer remained. I took some things and food with me. Frankly I already wanted to leave, everything was full of ash in the air. So much that I wanted to know the truth, now that you know that he was hiding in the cave, from the poor dead boy, but he kept thinking that something was still missing. “You see that plane?” call Delilah. “No, I was just busy packing up.” “There’s going to be a lot more. The service says this thing is 2% contained.” “¿Is this the Jun fire or the site fire or?” “The two fires merged into one unmitigated disaster. They’re renaming it after my lookout. You about packed up?” “Shouldn’t we talk for a sec? You know, about…things?” “About what?” “About what happen to Brian” “I don’t know what to say… it’s like the universo cooked up the cruelest thing to have happen. Does it connect to everything else? I don’t know. I don’t know if I even want to.” “What can I do?” suddenly hear something. “We have to just wait for the helicopters.” “Okay” I followed the source of the noise. “Until then you could follow that signal. Maybe” “Holy crap, yeah. Oh my” she was right, was the wave receiver “We don’t know what it is. It could be nothing.” “It could also be whoever was listening to us. Whoever made the tape.” I took my backpack and left the tower. “Okay, yeah. You should pack up everything you need in case we get the call and you can’t come back” “Alright look. If something happens…” “I’ll remember you.” “I was hoping you’d have a backup plan or something” “Yeah, um, okay. I’m probably going to move to Canadá. Ontario, maybe.” “No, I meant if something happens to me.” started walking away from my tower for the last time. “Right. If you don’t find out who made that tape and I have to hit the road.” “Forget it” sighed hiding my irritation. “Be safe Sunset.” This may be my last journey, and I didn’t mean leaving the forest. I worried that I was walking towards my death. Although this is already the third time that I found myself in this situation, at least it’s daytime compared to those times. I quickly took my mind off those bad memories and went on my way. “What’s your status?” call Delilah. “I think I’m getting close” “Alright well, I just got Word that they’re coming to ge tus. My place.” “You sound worried.” “No. It… it’s just…” “Brian?” “I’ll coordinate with the evac team and let you know when to head towards the tram. It’s North. Far. Past where you found that cut back in May” I could not believe it. I was finally going to meet her. I felt a bit excited, however, it is not the best moment, with everything that is happening. I'll think about how to help Delilah, now I must follow the noise. It led me to a rock with a rope on top, obviously climbing. The censor was another strange device, but the strangest thing is that my name was written on the rocky wall. “Someone left a rope for me to climb up.I’m down near the lake.” “¿How do you know it’s for you?” “There’s a tracking collar tied to it, someone was leadding me here. And there’s another tape.” Peel off the taped ribbon from the rope. “Oh my Sunset” Put the tape in the cassette player for the first tape. And listen to the following: “Hi, Sunset. You better find this before it burns up. We’ve been causing each other a lotta headaches, Now I gotta go stake out a site that’s as fit for living as the one you’re about to find. You’ll get it when you see it.” While listening to that man's voice, I started to climb. “You can’t blame me for keeping an eye on you. Not after bumping into you back in May. Down by the cave for fuck’s sake.” So he was the man I saw on my second day, the first time I was in the cave, now it makes sense. “I’ve been up here for three years. I kept it cozy. Winters are harsh as hell, and I ran out of books. But I got that antenna rigged up-and Delilah, she’s a record you don’t gotta flip. I kinda get why Brian took to her.” I got to the top and went up the hill and found a couple of boards, it was a makeshift hatch, it had its shelter very well hidden. “About a week ago I stopped worrying about you finding anything out and that’s right when everything went shit-house with you two.” I open the hatch and get inside. “You guys don’t know anything about having kids, alright? Nobody knows nothing. It ain’t Andy and Opie walking down to the lake to fish every afternoon. It ain’t Mayberry. But you gotta know I didn’t kill him, alright? We were climbing. I was teaching him. Brian was uneducated in the way to to anything. He just- he just fucking didn’t sink this anchor the right way.” The place was horrible, a dirty sleeping bag, a broken table with papers and a broken chair. Probably where he had all the information. Also several metal things and devices, he left little food, rotten of course, at the bottom there was a large hole, surely where he sat to read or listen to us. But the things they said made me angrier and angrier. “You know, I thought about going back, having to answer questions and having to get him put in the ground, and I didn’t see the point. Don’t come looking for me. I’m sorry about your father.” Asshole. He was a just a kid who didn't know, you were his father, why didn't you protect him? “We found the surveillance operation” l report Delilah. “Okay. ¿What does that mean? ¿What is it?” “It was Ned Goodwin. He was the one listening to us. Just him.” “Ned Goodwin… He made the tape?” “Yeah. He’s gone. Deeper into the Shoshone. He desn’t want anyone to know he’s out here. D…” “Because he killed Brian. Becaus he killed his fucking son.” She was upset and I don't blame her. "He have bunker with radios and everything." “You… need to get back here. They say helicopters are making rounds.” “Okay.” After taking a few things, I got ready to go out. I left the bunker to run to the meeting point, I will finally meet Delilah. When I'm halfway there. “I know I should be relieved… relieved that there’s no evidence of us starting that fire, relieved that we’ re not crazy, that there wasn’t some conspiracy.” call Delilah. “But I’m not. He was a sweet kid. With a shitty father who out here like a coward after dumping him in a hole.” “Delilah, I think it was an accident. I don't think Ned wanted to kill him. "We don't know what happened." "Ned wanted his son to know how to climb and do things that, towards him, but Brian was different." And what was the result, Sunset? Sorry, it would have been so easy to just tell the truth and send it home. I can't get it out of my head " "You did not do anything wrong" "Yes, I do. And now I have to think about whether or not to tell people that Brian is there, so they can get his body back. If I do, they will ask me about Ned Goodwin." She was speechless, this really affected her more than me. “D?” “Oh. fuck.” “Is that a helicópter?” “Yeah, Hold on. Hey! No There’s one more. Yes. Here, yeah. He’s coming. Okay.One second. They’re here but they’re making rounds. They’ll come back I think, I think I’m going to go with them.” “Wait. Just wait, ¿okay? I’m not that far” speed up the pace. “Eh… Sunset, they’re here, they’re wating, right now.” “Please.” I begged. “Sunset, I don’t, I don’t want to meet you and just sit here in a dead boy’s shadow. ¿Okay? I don’t want to do that. I know that sounds harsh.” No plase… “Okay, I’ll wait.” “I’m not far.” “Okay” I ran and climbed as much as I could, I couldn't stop myself, I've been waiting for this all summer. I'm finally going to meet her, she had so many mixed emotions. I finally got to where she told me, the funicular. Enter to pass the cliff and finally meet Delilah. I arrived, there was the symbol of the forest ranger on a rock, poles with cables, and the signal that they transmitted from here to communicate. I climbed the small hill, up the stairs. “¡Damn, it’s a nightmare out there!” I shouted with the immense heat that it was, deep down it was more for him to hear me. But nothing. “Hello? Delilah!” Arrived at the bottom of the stairs, his room, it was empty, he was gone. Go through the door and examine your room. This is where she was all this time. “Oh, Shit- it’s a nightmare out there!” I arrive at your table where you had a radio, with some headphones. “Hello? Delilah! Dammit” I sat down and put them on. “Hello? Is anybody there?” “Hi. Yeah, it’s me.” Was her. Delilah. “You’re not here” hers desk had a bottle of tequila, apples and peanut butter papers, and a picture of me, when asked me what I look like. “No… Don’t be mad” "I'm not mad, just ..." "Not mad, just disappointed?" "I’m not your father who has caught you smoking in your room" “I just couldn’t be out there for another minuete.” "You should have told me." "You really wanted me to stay." "You’re right. And now I am-" "Disappointed." "Yeah" “I know. It shouldn’t take long for the helicopter to reach you.” “Okay” sigh. “I here’s a debrief in a situation like this. Lots of questions.” “Ugh, shit. So, taking stock. We found out an old lookout killed his only son and decided to become a lonely hermit.” “Yes” “And we prevented… one fire?” “Basically started another.” “Okay, so that’s a wash.” “I’ll have to figure out what I’m doing every summer from no won that isn’t this.” “You¿re not coming back?” “No. And you’ll have to… I don’t know” “Me neither. I don’t know what’s next.” “Tell you what: why don’t you choose me for me, and I’ll choose you for you.” “Ha. Alright, sure. Maybe...” I couldn't believe what I said. “Maybe you could come back to Boulder with me and figure it out down there.” “Um….” “Just… just a thought.” a very stupid I thought. “You don’t want me down there.” “Well, I just asked you.” “I’ve got some things to do in Casper and maybe I’ll head south sometime afther that. I could come by. Sure.” it didn't sound very sure. “Okay, yoSo, what about me?” “I think you should visit your father. And then you can figure it out. You can still do something interesting with your writing projects. If you write a book about this, put a sexy accent or something.” “I, umm… yeah.” "And your friends too" "Yeah, right." my friends…? “Sunset… I. You came out to put your memories behind you and they’re still right there in front of you.” "You're right. I mean ... I guess you're right " "Well" "When I come back, I might as well..." “Let's not think about this summer. Next year will come right away and then the following year, and then… I don't know. My Aunt Judy called it a pause in the corridor of time. " "Did your Aunt Judy smoke a lot?" joke "Yes she" she smiled a little, I could feel it. "But you should also follow her advice." "Yes, we'll see" “There’s the helicopter.” “They’ll land back where you hiked up. Good luck Sunset.” “Goodbye Delilah” “I mean it, Good luck.” “Yeah.” “Bye, Sunshine.” I took off my headphones, took one last look at her room, and walked out the door. The helicopter was in front of me. A firefighter gave me signs to climb. Time to go home, he helped me up, I settled down and the helicopter began to climb. Not before, take a last look at Delilah's tower, with the ranger symbol. The time to say goodbye. To this place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So what's new?" Sonata asked. "After arriving at the base, they asked me some questions, they held me for two days" "Did you sleep in a cell?!" Aria said surprised. “Yes, they went through my things and found all the evidence, I had saved Ned's tapes. I also took some photos.” "And what happened to Delilah? Was he so nice there, Sunny? " Adagio asked. "No. That was the last time I spoke to her, I don't know what became of her "sighed the pony girl. "And Ned?" Aria asked. "I don't know either, I think they're still looking for it," said Sunset. "Did they take your things, Sunset?" Sonata was worried. “Not everything, I stole the wave detector as a souvenir. They would not need it anyway " "At least you made it out of it alive," Adagio said, taking his hand. "Yes, my third time escaping death" she sighed. "THIRD?!" the Dazzlings yelled. "Technically four, with the peninsula." "Does it have to do with your other objects?" Sonata asked, looking into the box where Adagio had left them. "Yes, each of them has her story." "I think we had enough history for one night." Adagio got up from the sofa. "It's late, we must sleep." "Is that right? It would be better to clean up and go to sleep. " Sunset took the box, but she stopped, looking at her new family. She smiled wistfully and went up to her room. Inside her, she put down the objects and closed the closet. Before leaving, she looked at the picture of a forest, where the tower of her companion, Delilah, was seen.